Did you donate? NW dropped $4 million in Salvation Army kettles

The final months of 2009 were proof. Businesses and neighbors overwhelmed the Rainier Valley Food Bank with donations after thieves took $2,000 worth of food. And while the families of five area police officers grieved their loss, people from all over Puget Sound donated thousands — even when it meant waiting three hours to buy pizza.

Today the Salvation Army announced that Northwest donors dropped a total of $4 million into those iconic red buckets in Washington and parts of Idaho and Montana.

That’s a 21 percent increase from 2008 — a record year.

“Despite the struggling economy major cities in the division saw large increases in donations compared to last year, when the season was shortened due to record snowfall and floods that shut down collection sites for several days,” read a press release. “Smaller towns saw decreases in kettle donations throughout the three states.”

These are still early figures. The Salvation Army’s national kettle campaign raised $130 million in 2008.